The U.S. government has ended a controversial counterterrorism program created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that required men living in the U.S. who came from mostly Muslim countries to register with federal authorities.

Called NSEERS — National Security Entry-Exit Registration System — the program required registration, interviews and fingerprinting of male visitors 16 and older from Muslim nations as well as North Korea.

The program targeted men entering the country as well as more than 80,000 men already in the U.S., about 1,000 of them from metro Detroit. Nearly 13,800 residents were further investigated, and 2,870 were later deported.

But not a single case resulted in anyone being charged with terrorism — a fact that experts say proves the program was a failure that unfairly harassed thousands.

NSEERS did “not catch terrorists,” said Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, a law professor at Penn State University who has extensively researched the program. “It was ineffective and alienating.”

The Department of Homeland Security quietly ended the program through a notice buried on its Web site on April 28.

Okay- it didn’t catch any terrorists. Maybe it is time to shut it down. But pat-downs on 18-month old children in airports- now there’s a program we need to keep in place. I mean, safety first, right? You know, some people think the twin towers actually went down because of explosive-laden toddlers who were strapped to structural columns and detonated shortly after those plane hit. Muslims really had little if anything to do with the attacks on our country prior to -or since 9/11; it was those diaper-wearing ankle-biters. And beauty pageant winners.

Hey, while we’re at it, maybe we should compensate those who were so wrongly subjected to the harsh punishments meted out by the federal government George Bush. Surely two acres and a mule in downtown Detroit would seem fair. (In all seriousness though, ending the program is the administration’s way of inviting the ACLU to spring into action for a little more wealth re-distribution just prior to a general election. Of this, I have no doubt.)

“unfairly harassed thousands”? You come to a country that was attacked by radical Muslims and have to be interviewed and fingerprinted and believe you are harassed?

Uh, try going to a Muslim country with a passport with a stamp from Israel.
Try going to United Arab Emirates as an American and get back to me on the harassment you’ll get there if you dare walk on a beach identified for “their” women only. Try going to Mexico for over two months and explain what you are doing there.